NWSC asked to take over Alwi water project
Mr Silver Mugisha, the managing director of NWSC. FILE PHOTO
What you need to know:
Mr Silver Mugisha, the managing director of NWSC, said they have been having legal challenges with taking water to Parombo but now they have been given the opportunity and soon work will start in Parombo.
Nebbi. Nebbi District authorities have appealed to the government to hand over Alwi dry corridor water project to National Water and Sewerage Corporation (NWSC) to enable communities access clean water.
Alwi dry corridor water project was designed to benefit the people of Nebbi and Pakwach districts through gravity flow water scheme.
The contractor, Vambeco, officially handed it over to Ministry of Water last year.
At the same time, the Northern Umbrella for Water and Sanitation took over the operations of the project with the aim of increasing access to safe and clean water in various villages.
The Northern Umbrella of Water and Sanitation is a support structure developed for operation and maintenance support of rural growth centres and small towns piped water supply and sanitation schemes.
Residents are, however, disgruntled. They claimed that Northern Umbrella of Water and Sanitation does not have the capacity to extend water to the communities as had earlier been anticipated.
The Nebbi Municipality Member of Parliament, Mr Hashim Suleiman, said residents’ concerns must be addressed.
“The district leaders should write to the Ministry of Water to consider handing over Alwi dry corridor water project to National Water and Sewerage Cooperation because the current operator has failed to manage the water supply yet people paid for connection fees but have no access to water,” he said on Monday.
Mr Silver Mugisha, the managing director of NWSC, said they have been having legal challenges with taking water to Parombo but now they have been given the opportunity and soon work will start in Parombo.
The project officer-in-charge of environment and social protection in the Ministry of Water, who oversaw the project from the onset, Mr Kato Mugeiga, said: “It is true there has been problems at Oweko side. But there is work in progress because last week, we assessed the situation to find a solution. It is in our interest that people get water. There are also few areas where some taps are not working but we are trying to work hard to fix them.
Residents dismantle water pipes
Recently, 300 residents in of Parwath, Payera Okio, Oweko Centre and Payera Ayei villages in Oweko Parish in Ndhew Sub-county dismantled parts of the water pipes after they went without water for two years after paying to be connected to the grid.
Mr George Adubango Kermundu, a businessman, said people paid connection fees but that they have never accessed the water.
“If the project was given to national water (NWSC), this would change. Parombo is an industrial town which has no water and during dry season, a jerrycan of dirty water cost more than Shs1,000, which is quite expensive for poor people to afford,” he said.
